Reptile keeping, questioned from the inside.
Animals at Home Network treats reptile and amphibian keeping as both a craft and a responsibility. Recent conversations range from crested gecko seasonality and Danish zookeeper training to animal-control cases, oddities markets, mentorship, and where collecting becomes hoarding.
PRESS PLAY
Animals at Home Network is a herpetoculture show with the texture of a knowledgeable shop conversation. It is warm, but not soft. Recent episodes keep returning to a central question: what does responsible animal keeping look like when passion, law, and animal needs all collide? The show spends plenty of time with reptiles and amphibians, but it also watches the people who keep them. That human side matters. One episode asks whether anyone has a right to own any species they want, then pushes into the line between collecting and hoarding. Another brings in Brendan Hettinger, described as an animal protection officer in Colorado and a private reptile keeper, for a blunt look at the worst cases animal control sees in the reptile world. The conversation is uncomfortable by design. It does not treat rescue language as proof of good care, and it keeps asking how a community can look more serious, humane, and accountable. The technical episodes are just as grounded. Thomas Marriott returns from New Caledonia with dry-season observations on crested geckos, Leachianus examples, gargoyle geckos, climate, diet, misting, and natural UV exposure. Those details become practical questions for captive care rather than abstract trivia. The zookeeper episode with Malthe broadens the frame, showing the physical risk, training path, and daily reality behind work with lions, giraffes, fur seals, reptiles, and snakes. The show can go darker, too. Nathan Carlos Rupley’s oddities-market conversation covers taxidermy, preserved animals, skeletons, human remains, and the legal and ethical unease around those spaces. Project: Herpetoculture brings a looser panel energy, especially when guests talk about mentorship, chameleons, online advice, and the shift from scarce information to too much information. The pacing is brisk, but the thinking is allowed to wander. A story about a childhood reptile shop or a failed recording button can sit beside serious husbandry principles without feeling out of place. Animals at Home Network works best for listeners who already care about reptiles and want the hobby treated as something deeper than gear lists and species hype. Its strongest quality is its willingness to stay with the awkward parts of keeping animals alive in human spaces.
Made for: For reptile and amphibian keepers, herpetoculture hobbyists, zookeeper-curious animal lovers, and people who want practical care talk with ethical pressure applied. It especially suits listeners who enjoy long, specific conversations rather than quick tips.
What sets it apart: The show pairs field and husbandry detail with frank conversations about keeper behavior, rescue failures, hoarding, mentorship, and the law. It feels like a working community thinking aloud, not a tidy expert lecture.
Exploring ethical captive management of reptiles & amphibians through the lens of biological science, conservation, and human nature. The Animals at Home Network is a herpetoculture-based podcast network that hosts: Animals at Home Podcast by Dillon Perron, Project Herpetoculture by Phillip Lietz and Roy Arthur Blodgett, Reptiles & Research Podcast by Liam Sinclair and Ellie Hills, and Animals Everywhere by Bryce Broom. Each show on the network brings all members of the reptile community together to discuss reptile husbandry, scientific research, breeding, wildlife conservation, and more!
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Detailed conversations connect reptile care to animal behavior, seasonal conditions, enclosure engineering, and the practical judgment required to manage living systems.
Animals at Home Network turns reptile and amphibian keeping into a series of careful, practical conversations. Dylan Perrin guides several discussions from broad questions toward observable details: signs of stress in communal gecko housing, seasonal changes in misting and UV…
If a gecko stops eating, your cohabitation argument needs a spare enclosure.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A thoughtful look at reptile husbandry, online expertise, and the empathy that links animal care to human exchange.
Project: Herpetoculture traces a reptile keeper's education from an early trip to Reptilian Haven for green iguana lighting toward a broader question about mentorship in an age of abundant advice.
A dry-season field trip turns crested gecko care into a practical, thoughtful discussion.
Animals at Home Network uses a dry-season trip to New Caledonia as a grounded way into the wild conditions behind familiar captive reptiles. Thomas Marriott of Exotics Keeper compares crested gecko observations with wet-season footage, drawing out differences in climate, diet,…
Tyler France connects reptile keeping with teaching, boxing, and jiu-jitsu through the logic of transferable fundamentals.
Tyler France brings nearly a decade of eighth grade science teaching and a childhood spent researching reptiles in libraries to a focused conversation about what makes herpetoculture work.
A Florida landscape takes shape inside one garage, with engineered rain and a living system that keeps changing.
Josue Gimbernard's Mini Biota makes a garage feel like a small working slice of Florida, with linked aquariums trading air, water vapor, atmosphere, and weather.
A precise look at the riparian setup behind a difficult Adelopus breeding project.
Breeding Adelopus toads comes through as a careful lesson in controlled husbandry, where success depends on making a compact artificial habitat behave reliably.
A measured roundtable on leopard gecko cohabitation, close observation, and when simple rules fall short.
The roundtable turns quickly to a keeper's practical question: when should leopard geckos in the same enclosure be split up? Dylan Perrin keeps the focus on visible signs rather than blanket advice.
Serious chameleon care, taught from practice.
Ed Taoka discusses how he safely socializes his large reticulated pythons to interact with his young daughter, addressing safety precautions and public reactions.
Host Dillon Perron leads a roundtable with Adam Wickens, Liam Sinclair, and Ellie Hills about the controversy over Wickens' leopard gecko cohabitation video.
Animals at Home podcast guest Nick Stacey of Fragile Planet in South Texas talks through breeding adalopis toads and building a wildlife park.
Dylan Parent interviews John Courteney-Smith about Biosynergy, book five of the Element series, whose tagline is 'perfecting reptile care through natural balance.' John defines biosynergy as the process by which living organisms and their environments interact in harmony, and says keepers should study ecosystems before individual species.
Dillon Perron discusses the ethics of reptile collecting, animal rights, and the line between collecting and hoarding in a solo episode.
Animal protection officer Brendan Hettinger discusses the dark side of reptile rescues and hoarding, offering insights on how reptile keepers can improve their community's reputation.
A Danish zookeeper-in-training discusses the realities of the job, including dangerous animal encounters and the unique Danish education system.
A herpetoculturist reflects on their early reptile-keeping days and praises Zoomed products for their innovation and reliability.
Nathan Carlos Rupley discusses the dark side of the oddities market, including the illegal trade of human remains and a case involving Harvard Medical School.
Animals at Home Network's Project: Herpetoculture with "The Chameleon Bros" follows Bill Strand, Frank Payne, Jonathan Hill, and Tyler France as they compare chameleon keeping, breeding, and mentorship.
Thomas Marriott says wild crested geckos were found between 20.2°C and 26.4°C, even when the habitat ranged from 20°C to 34°C.
Tyler France says a breeder's job is to help people think for themselves, not just hand out answers.
Mini Biota on Animals at Home Network centers on Josue Gimbernard’s garage-built system of six connected 29-gallon tanks, from a freshwater lake to a seagrass meadow.
The hosts introduce the podcast, thank their network and editor, and promote their sponsors before the main content begins.
Armin from Herp Time discusses anole lizard care, breeding, and species recommendations for beginners and enthusiasts.
Chris from Reptiles and Oddities shares DIY methods for building cheap reptile enclosures and a rack system for 20 gallon breeder tanks.
Victoria Teague explains how to encourage reclusive snakes to come out more by using multi-level hides in display enclosures.